Airmen of the 557th Expeditionary RED HORSE have turned their expertise to enhance the quality of life of soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division deployed near Hawijah, Iraq. The Air Force engineers have completed a new medical aid station, three multi-purpose buildings, a military dog-training course, containerized housing units, and a small post exchange. The RED HORSE detachment started with 23 airmen, gradually returning them to their deployment location at Mosul as they finished work at the Army forward operating base McHenry. According to Army journalist Spc. Barbara Ospina, said the soldiers helped the process along by using “a variety of channels” to find needed supplies.
Clearing jungle and laying asphalt in tropical heat may not sound like fun to most people, but it’s a way of life for Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineers (RED HORSE) Airmen, who have spent the past year or so restoring World War II-era airfields on the Pacific…